Sparks Fly

This entry was posted on June 24, 2010 by Shawn.

Lot of ground to cover in today’s entry – we’ve been very busy since my last post, hence the break. The good news is that today’s entry is pretty exciting – I’ve been working on a lot of videos lately, either showcasing new products or giving you a special preview of some things that we’re working on bringing you over the next few months. They're not as flashy as the iPhone 4 but they're just a tad more practical and a lot more durable. (Full disclosure: I am a complete technophile and an Apple fanatic in particular.)

Matt and I recently shot a short demo video of Thermo-Coustic back in the R&D workshop – our initial plan was to highlight the sound-deadening properties by hitting a replacement door skin for a Mustang with a ball-peen body hammer, applying some Thermo-Coustic, and then doing it again. While back there, we bumped into Mark Robidoux, who was tinkering with one of the new MIG 135 Welders, and he suggested a much cooler test – heat up a test panel and check the heat penetration with an infrared thermometer, with and without Thermo-Coustic. (If you're interested, you can check out the Wiki on IR thermometers - very cool device in its own right.)

With my extensive experience with propane torches (none), Mark’s detailed instructions (“Pull the trigger”), and Matt’s steady camerawork (seriously), we shot some great footage, had a lot of fun, and did not burn anything. This video is still in post-production - I wasn't kidding when I said I've been busy - but I will have it up next week.

And now for something completely different...the Eastwood Plasma Cutter. I'll bore you with the inside details after you watch the video (for beautiful, full-screen 720p, click here.)

Again, Matt is behind the camera, but this time Mark is doing the work on-screen - I didn't get involved until the post-production phase to do the editing work, unfortunately. I say unfortunately because watching Mark rip through this frame on video got my adrenaline going; being in the garage when he was cutting must have been awesome.

I'm thankful for the opportunity to do some video editing and post-production work; as I mentioned, I follow developments in technology religiously and working with a powerful software package to create a crisp finished product is satisfyingly challenging. Part of the enjoyment in creating any sort of digital media is that it's become easier to do for beginners, but it still requires immense creativity and practice to master.

I've been working on some other projects as well, but I'll dive into that more in my next post; just wanted to give you something for the end of the week and apologize for the delays - posts will be more regular from here on out.